HERITAGE TREES: As Silent Substantiation of History
Campus heritage trees are part of a college – identity; they represent a union between past and present,a symbol shared across generations of students. The attachment to Campus ancient trees goes beyond familiarity and tradition. Ancient trees are indeed silent witnesses of history. They have stood tall and witnessed centuries of events from natural phenomena like storms and wildfires to human activities . These ancient sentinels serve as a living connection to our shared history and the ever changing world around us.
" A heritage tree may be defined as a tree of biological, cultural, ecological or historical interest because of its age, size or condition. Heritage trees are integral and valuable part of our natural and cultural landscape and are often among the oldest living objects in the relative place. Heritage trees provide a sense of permanency and sense of place and important gene pool and also a critical repository of potential pharmaceutical resources."
As the “elder statement” of a species, “heritage or champion” trees are a living reminder how large an older particular species may become. Out of 14 acres total land of GRC Nabha, approximately 2.5, acres is occupied by institutional buildings and rest of the land is covered with heritage trees and other plants. The college was established in 1947 and is affiliated to Punjabi University Patiala. Beautiful shady trees surround college building. Its campus was famous as “Pucca Bagh”. The main college building is a wonderful and rare monument of fine architecture. Many majestic mature trees are the natural heritage of college which serve as important green landmass for our princely state. Just as our ancient Nabha city, it takes decades and in some cases, more than 100 years for these trees to mature gracefully in our landscape. It is unimaginable that there are more than 150 heritage trees that can be teamed as heritage trees. The criteria adopted for identification of a tree as a heritage tree is by virtue of its age that is around 100 years old; from its profile and girth of trunk, rare species, or provides a habitat for rare species of animal or birds. The heritage trees are of good quality, relatively free of damage and are also sufficiently well suited for preservation. Philip Sidney in Acardia claims that poetry could not exsist without nature as ancient orchards are the reminders of our history. The GRC campus is free of any type of pollution as our and we put best efforts to conserve and preserve our heritage trees. Many awareness programmes for environment conservation and preservation are included in the academic calendar of the college. The college also conducts plantation drives, lectures, poster making competitions,cleanliness drives etc in the campus region. College also celebrates Environment Day, World Wildlife Day, Earth Day, Soil Day.